Angry residents in a French town have built a wall around the entrance of a former hotel which is slated to become a migrant center, accusing the government of failing to consult citizens over the plan.

A few dozen protesters in the town of Semeac, southwest France, built the wall around the disused Formule 1 hotel overnight, AFP reported. The wall measures 18 meters (60ft) long and 1.8 meters high (5.9ft).

"We are not against taking in migrants," Laurent Teixeira, a spokesman for the protesters, told AFP. "But you have to take account of the citizens."

He accused authorities of failing to consult residents about the plan to turn the former hotel into a shelter for up to 85 migrants.

"Nothing is planned for the migrants' daily life," he said, adding that schools and other public services in the small town will be unable to cope with the new arrivals.

Another protester by the name of Hugo Lacoue, who works as a tobacconist, said he was against migrants being hosted in a suburban neighborhood.